As the end of the 2025 Legislative Session draws near, those who still harbor hope for the legislative process look ahead to next year — with study committees. Everyone’s favorite way to see lawmakers and lobbyists in business casual during the offseason, study committees provide a venue to promote ideas and issues that occasionally make their way into actual legislation. 59 have been proposed this year between the House and Senate, and topics vary wildly, from the Senate Study Committee on Combating Unscrupulous Companion Animal Breeding Practices (SR 255) to the House Study Committee on Exploring the Potential for Humanoids and Robotics in Georgia Workforce Development (HR 815). Not all study committees will get authorized, but we’ll let you know which ones do in the #GoldDomeReport.
The House wrapped up the week with a short floor session on Friday, while the Senate took a surprisingly long time to take care of the 13 measures on its Rules Calendar (plus a couple taken from the table). Among them was the FY 2026 State Budget, which passed and is now on its way back to the House and an inevitable conference committee to hammer out the wide differences between the chambers’ positions. Legislators have one week to get the work done, as adjournment Sine Die is expected on Friday, April 4.
In this Report:
- Floor Action
- Committee Notes
- New Legislation
- What’s Next
Floor Action
The House took up the following measures on Legislative Day 37:
- HB 428 - Health; codify right to in vitro fertilization for individuals (Senate Substitute) - PASSED 160-0
- HB 584 - Health; reassign licensing and oversight of certain treatments and programs from Departments of Community Health to Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (Senate Substitute) - PASSED 163-0
- SB 44 - Equalization Grants, Annual Calculations, and Allocation; the definition of the term "qualified local school system" by reducing the minimum required millage rate; revise (Ed-Cannon-172nd) Watson-11th - PASSED 138-23
- SB 79 - "Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act"; enact - PASSED 131-31
- SB 147 - Correctional Institutions of State and Counties; consent for the release of certain criminal history, vocational, and educational information for inmates upon release; provide (Substitute)(PS&HS-Werkheiser-157th) Rhett-33rd - PASSED 163-0
- SB 180 - High Demand Apprenticeship Program; opportunities for apprenticeship sponsors to enter into apprenticeship program contracts with State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia; provide (HEd-Dubnik-29th) Dixon-45th - PASSED 158-0
- SB 245 - Grandparents; include within the category of persons who may seek to revoke or amend an existing grandparent visitation order (Substitute) (Judy-Townsend-179th) Hodges-3rd - PASSED 160-1
The Senate took up the following measures on Legislative Day 37:
- HB 38 - Education; needs based financial aid program; revise definition of eligible student (H ED-23rd) Martin-49th - PASSED 46-5
- HB 68 - General appropriations; State Fiscal Year July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 (Substitute)(APPROP-19th) Burns-159th - PASSED 48-7
- HB 85 - Superior Court Judicial Compensation Reform Act; enact (JUDY-50th) Leverett-123rd PASSED 51-2
- HB 86 - Public officers and employees; calculating and setting the salaries of certain state officials; revise provisions - RECEDE FROM SENATE POSITION 46-2
- HB 113 - State government; prohibit the state or its agencies from purchasing goods from certain foreign countries or related entities (Substitute) (GvtO-50th) McDonald III-26th - PASSED 51-0
- HB 136 - Income tax; contributions to foster child support organizations; expand tax credit (Substitute)(FIN-42nd) Newton-127th - PASSED 50-0
- HB 182 - Life insurance; excluding or restricting liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is an active duty service member; prohibit (Substitute) (I&L-15th) Lumsden-12th - PASSED 46-0
- HB 192 - Top State for Talent Act; enact (H ED-49th) Gambill-15th - PASSED 48-1
- HB 217 - Education; make Dual Achievement Program a permanent state-wide program (H ED-50th) Hong-103rd - PASSED 44-2
- HB 348 - Insurance; expand lines of insurance or reinsurance in which a limited purpose subsidiary and captive insurance company may engage (I&L20th) Williamson-112th - PASSED 47-2
- HB 351 - Board of Natural Resources; modify powers and duties (NR&E-8th) Corbett-174th - PASSED 47-0
- HB 360 - Revenue and taxation; rehabilitation of historic structures; revise tax credit - FAILED 26-24
- HB 410 - Insurance, Department of; efficiency in the practices; provide (I&L-16th) DeLoach-167th - PASSED 47-0
- HB 433 - Human Services, Department of; authorized to access restricted and sealed information to conduct employee oversight in certain circumstances; provide (C&F-32nd) Ballinger-23rd - PASSED 43-7
- HB 575 - Transportation, Department of; authorize notice of certain public hearings by electronic publication (Substitute) (TRANS-45th) McCollum-30th - PASSED 50-0
- SB 69 - "Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act"; enact - AGREE TO THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTE AS AMENDED 52-0
- SB 79 - "Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act"; enact - AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE 49-0
Committee Notes
Senate Education and Youth Committee
Chairman Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro) and the Education and Youth Committee took up several measures late on Thursday:
- HB 127, authored by Representative Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville), is the legislation addressing O.C.G.A. 20-2-851 in order to increase the number of sick days for public school teachers and school personnel from three to five. However, this bill was gutted and stripped in committee. It was taken for the purposes of including the prohibition of “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” The substitute presented was LC 49 2351S. The legislation was a modified version of the legislation previously heard in the Senate Higher Education Committee (that was SB 120). The new version was presented by Senator Max Burns (R-Sylvania) who noted that this legislation essentially follows the White House’s order prohibiting DEI policies in public schools. 12 other states have adopted this type of legislation per Senator Burns. There is no opt-out or waiver permitted. This prohibition is for k-12 schools and post-secondary institutions (TCSG and USG). There was great concern expressed by Senator Freddie Powell Sims (D-Dawson), Senator Elena Parent (D-Atlanta), and other Democratic members of the committee. Senator Parent inquired about the “disparate impact” as there is a United States Supreme Court case on that issue. Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) argued there were differences in “equality” and “equity.” Representative Cox expressed his dismay regarding his underlying proposal; he stated, though, he would respect the will of the committee. Numerous individuals were in the audience, but Chairman Hickman refused to allow public testimony on the legislation. A motion was made DO PASS the committee substitute; an amendment was offered to change “anti-racism” to “Anti-racism.” The amendment was adopted and the DO PASS motion carried, moving the substitute forward to the Senate Rules Committee.
- SB 253, authored by Senator Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta), seeks to establish a three-year pilot program on robotics for eligible public schools. This pilot would be created in O.C.G.A. 20-2-335. Senator Halpern noted that this program would align with CTAE priorities and help with the building of 21st-century careers. No action was taken on this bill.
- SR 301, authored by Senator Gail Davenport (D-Jonesboro), is the proposal to create the Senate Rosenwald Schools Study Committee. It will look at the history of these schools in Georgia and their impact on the education and economic prosperity of African Americans. The Committee originally only was to conduct a hearing on this legislation; however, they provided it a DO PASS recommendation.
Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) met with his committee on Thursday evening to take action on four House bills before their deadline:
- HB 36, by Representative Robb Leverett (R-Elberton), expands the list of professionals authorized to participate in the processes related to the appointment, modification, and termination of guardians and conservators for adults. This includes the addition of physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists in psychiatric/mental health, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors to the existing list of physicians, psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers. The bill also outlines the procedures for evaluating the capacity of proposed wards, including the requirement for evaluations to be conducted by these newly included professionals.
Representative Leverett presented the bill to the committee, which recommended the bill DO PASS and be sent to the Rules Committee.
- HB 268, by Representative Holt Persinger (R-Winder) is Speaker Jon Burns’s (R-Newington) school safety package. Regular readers of the Gold Dome Report are familiar with this legislation, as it has received more vetting than most bills, with many hours of testimony and debate in both House and Senate committees. The legislation addresses the following topics:
- Requires timely transfer of student records.
- Establishes a position for behavioral health coordinator in schools.
- Requires students in 6th grade and above to have an hour of suicide awareness and an hour of violence prevention training annually.
- Increases penalties for terroristic threats.
- Provides training for Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management teams (BTAM) in schools.
The major amendment from this committee meeting was the removal of the School and Student Safety Database (S3). Throughout the legislative process, this part of the measure was consistently the point with which most people took issue, legislators and the public alike.
Senator Cowsert presented the bill to the committee, which recommended the bill DO PASS and be sent to the Rules Committee. Senator Ben Watson will carry the bill in the Senate.
- HB 582, by Representative Stan Gunter (R-Blairsville) is the Georgia Survivor Justice Act. It introduces amendments to Titles 16, 17, and 24 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, focusing on the legal defenses available to defendants in criminal cases, particularly those involving family violence, dating violence, or child abuse. The bill allows defendants to present evidence of such violence committed by the alleged victim to support a justification defense, expanding the scope of admissible evidence to include prior acts of the alleged victim and expert testimony. It revises the defense of coercion, excluding malice murder, and provides for resentencing in certain murder convictions where the predicate felony was cruelty to children in the second degree before July 1, 2004. The legislation also introduces a mechanism for defendants to petition for resentencing under specific conditions, with a presumption in favor of granting a hearing unless certain deficiencies are found. Additionally, the bill establishes a privilege for communications made during victim-centered practices or victim-offender dialogues, protecting them from being used in legal proceedings unless waived. Facilitators of these dialogues are granted civil immunity except in cases of gross negligence or willful disregard for safety.
Representative Gunter presented the bill to the committee, which recommended the bill DO PASS and be sent to the Rules Committee.
House Insurance Committee
The committee, chaired by Representative Eddie Lumsden (R-Armuchee), met early Friday and took action to keep in play several insurance mandates that the House had passed and which the Senate Insurance Committee had only heard hearings but not passed out to Senate Rules.
- SB 5, by Senator Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), was the vehicle, which requires insurers who use prior authorization techniques to deny claims to propose a selective removal of such techniques for procedures that are evidence-based, before July 1, 2026. The substitute bill brought to the committee already contained the PANS and PANDAS mandate previously passed by the House. During the meeting, the committee also added HB 323 by Representative Karen Mathiak (R-Griffin) which encouraged coverage of ALS and kidney failure conditions, and HB 373 by Rep Lydia Glaze (D-Fairburn) which requires insurers to cover prostate screening for men under 40 who have a family history of prostate cancer (this extends 2024 legislation that required coverage of prostate cancer screenings for all men over age 40). The committee voted DO PASS.
Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) convened his committee Friday morning to hear three House bills:
- HB 463, by Representative Shaw Blackmon (R-Baonaire), provides a state-wide homestead exemption from ad valorem taxes for senior citizens aged 65 or older who volunteer with local governments in Georgia. The exemption amount is determined by local governments but cannot exceed $500 or the total tax owed per year (capped at $10/hour volunteered). The measure received a DO PASS recommendation without discussion.
- HB 79, by Representative Mark Newton (R-Augusta), is the Firearm Safe Handling and Secure Storage Tax Credit Act. The measure, as passed by the House, provides an income tax credit of $300 for the purchase of safe storage devices or in-person safe firearm handling training. The committee substitute (LC 50 1238 S) removes the portion of the tax credit for storage devices. Added to the bill is a 4-day sales tax holiday for ammunition, gun safes, and related accessories. The bill was further amended by the committee to remove the once-per-lifetime limit; the tax credit could be claimed each year that a taxpayer takes a firearm safety class. Senator Jason Estevez commented that he found it sad the committee is taking a “perfectly good bill” and amending it by adding the tax holiday provisions which counteracts the intent of the legislation. The committee voted DO PASS as amended.
- HB 66, by Representative Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), hasn’t been “gutted,” but it has been “stuffed.” The original bill introduces an alternative method for the payment of ad valorem taxes for certain modified rental vehicles. It defines key terms such as "for-hire charter bus or motor coach" and "special modified rental vehicle," the latter being a motor vehicle significantly modified at a manufacturing facility in Georgia, operated by the vehicle's owner, and primarily rented or leased to businesses. The legislation stipulates that for these vehicles, the title ad valorem tax fees will be split into two payments: 50% of the tax is due at the time of applying for a certificate of title, and the remaining 50% is due within 12 months of the application filing. The committee substitute adds another measure to provide a Homestead Option Sales Tax (HOST) for counties that don’t currently have a Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), which are Cherokee, Cobb and Gwinnett Counties (10-year sunset). This could allow Cherokee County to eliminate its ad valorem property tax. The committee voted DO PASS.
New Legislation
The following new legislation of interest has been introduced:
